Tornado Hits SE Michigan, Kills Toddler
By: Mike Stiles -
Thursday, June 6, 2024
(photo courtesy of Pixabay)
(LIVONIA) - A toddler was killed and his mother was injured when a tornado struck without warning.
Officials in Livonia, Michigan, say the tornado tore through several neighborhoods on Wednesday afternoon and developed so quickly that there was no advance notice from the National Weather Service or others that would have normally led to the activation of warning sirens.
The storm uprooted a massive tree that fell on one family’s house and came through the roof, landing on a bed where a woman and her 2 year old were sleeping, officials said in a post on the city’s website. Crews worked for nearly an hour to remove the roof and parts of the tree and then lift the tree to get the victims out.
The toddler was pronounced dead at the scene, and the mother was transported
to a local hospital in critical condition.
A 2 week old sibling who was in a crib in a separate room was not injured but taken to a hospital for an evaluation, Livonia Fire Department Chief Robert Jennison told a Detroit television station.
The National Weather Service in Detroit confirmed on the social platform X that an EF1 tornado with a peak wind speed of 95 mph moved through Livonia. The agency said the twister traveled a path spanning over 5 miles, uprooting trees and damaging some homes.
A representative from the weather service called it a spin-up storm that didn’t show up on their radars in enough time to issue a warning, according to city officials.
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